Friday March 20, 2015

Opens WOD 15.4 (first attempt)

3 HSPU
3 Power Cleans @ 185#
6 HSPU
3 Power Cleans @ 185#
9 HSPU
3 Power Cleans @ 185#
12 HSPU
6 Power Cleans @ 185#
15 HSPU
6 Power Cleans @ 185#
18 HSPU
6 Power Cleans @ 185#
etc. etc.


Wow, so talk about another workout that just does NOT play to my strengths!! This one is all about the HSPU's, not just for me but everybody. I knew that I'd eventually hit a wall with these if I did not pace it right. Strategy was to break sets very early and try to maintain sets of 3 through the round of 12.

I had a gameplan that was right down to the second and I figured best case, I could get through the round of 15. That's about as good as it gets for me. I knew that would not be within miles of an elite score. Best case, I am able to avoid dropping too far and still stay near top 50 WW going into last week of Opens.

I executed my gameplay fairly well. However; I had some tough reps in the round of 12 and probably should have broken into even smaller sets in this round. I got to the round of 15 HSPU with PLENTY of time on the clock (maybe 3 or 4 minutes??) and needed all of it to grind through all 15 of the HSPU's. Final score was 60. Not terrible, but I would have loved to have been at least 66. Will try again on Sunday.

Wednesday March 18, 2015

A. Front Squat @ 20x1, 80% x 1 rep x 2 sets, 85% x 1 rep x 1 sets, 80 x 1 rep x 2 sets, rest as needed between sets

     - 235#

B.  Strict Handstand Push-Up Clusters, 5.5.5 x 4 sets, rest as needed between sets.

C. Every Minute on the Minute x 18 Minutes of the following:

First Minute: Row 150-200 Meters

Second Minute: 3-5 Muscle-Ups

Third Minute: Shoulder to Overhead x 4-5 reps  @ 185/125 lbs

     - Did under 1:30 pace on the rows, only 3 Muscle Ups and all 5 of the STO's each round. Muscle Ups were not feeling good today.

Tuesday March 17, 2015

A. Split Jerk off Blocks, 85% x 1 rep x 2 sets, 88% x 1 rep x 2 sets, 92% x 1 rep x 1 sets, rest 1-2 minutes between sets.

     - Worked to 245#

B. Snatch Deadlift + Hang Snatch(Mid-Thigh Pause), 3 reps @ snatch deadlift + 1 rep @ Hang Snatch x 5 sets, rest 1-2 minutes between sets.

    - Worked to 155#

+

C. 3 Sets of the following @ increasing effort:

20 Burpees to Target

15 Box Jumps @ 24 inches/20 inches

20 Cal Airdyne or 12 Cal Assault

15 Thrusters @ 115/75 lbs

Rest 1:1 interval

     - Got through all sets of Thrusters unbroken which I was worried about for some reason.

Monday March 16, 2015

A. High Bar Back Squat @ 20x1, 75% x 2 reps x 1 set, 80% x 2 reps x 2 sets, 75% x 2 reps x 1 set   

     - 255, 265

B. Clean Complex: Muscle Clean(+1) + Power Clean(+3) x 5-6 sets, rest 1-2 minutes between sets.

     - Worked to 185. Muscle Cleans were sloppy

+

C.  3 Sets of the following:

4 Minutes on the Assault Bike @ 80%--350 Watts/225 Watts

Rest 2 Minutes

4 Minutes on Row @ 80%-15-20 seconds off 1000 Meter Pace

Rest 2 Minutes between sets

2 Minutes on Ski Erg @ 80%

Rest 2 Minutes

Sunday March 15, 2015

Opens WOD 15.3 second attempt

Felt much more relaxed and confident going into this the second time. Reason is #1 I had a better idea what to expect and #2 I knew I could not do much worse.

Change in strategy was to really slow the pace in the first round to avoid getting crushed by all the Muscle Ups. This worked pretty well although I still struggled a bit in the second round of Double Unders-quite a few  missed attempts. I also still ended up doing singles on the 2nd and 3rd round of muscle ups. I think this was  more about me being careful not to miss than it was a case of not being able to string together consecutive reps. Anyway, the end result was that I did 10 reps better and I did break through the 3rd round of muscle ups with about :15 remaining. I got to that last set of muscle ups at 11:35 so I was still dog slow at getting through those 7 reps but...at least I never missed!!!

This was a frustrating WOD for me. I feel like I should have been able to do so much better.

Final score: 329 reps

Masters WW Leaderboard Ranking-45th place

Friday March 13, 2015

Opens WOD 15.3 (First attempt)

Big time nerves today for some reason. Felt a lot of pressure to do well on this workout because I thought it was one I'd do well on. Well, I guess I was wrong. The workout was

14:00 AMRAP of

7 Muscle Ups
50 Wall Balls
100 Double Unders

I was kind of concerned when I saw Double Unders because I am not as good at them as I used to be and they tend to make my heart rate spike at high reps. Wall Balls I am very comfortable with. Muscle Ups are the wild card. When I'm in the groove, I am pretty decent at them. But when I'm really fatigued my technique goes to shit and I REALLY struggle. Today was one of those days unfortunately.

First round I went out at a pretty aggressive pace -split the M/U's into 3/2/2, WB's into 25/25 and Dubs into 50/50 with a few misses here and there. Finished first round in under 4:30 which was exactly my target pace. However; my H/R was racing going into round 2 and I was already breaking M/U's into singles. Wall Balls, started off with a big set of 20 but then became 10's after that. Dubs were kind of a blur. I think I banged out a decent set of 25 or so then struggled to string together 10's!! Finished them with about 2:30 left and the Muscle Ups were a grind at that point. I only managed to make 5 attempts and I think I missed my last 3. Fucking awful. Was really frustrated, angry, depressed after the way this went. In fact, I'm rethinking my whole outlook toward CrossFit.

I may think of myself as a competitive Crossfitter but am I really? I have so many holes in my game and don't seem to have the time or space in my life to put the work in to fix every one. Is it time to walk away from all the competition and just get back to the original reason I started CrossFit - to stay in great shape.

Thursday March 12, 2015

A. High Bar Back Squat, 80% x 1 rep x 2 sets, 85% x 1 rep x 2 sets, 90% x 1 rep x 1 set, rest as needed between sets
B. For Light Work + Skill Work @ 80%
3-4 Sets of the following:
Row 750 Meters
5 Muscle Ups